I Will Survive
by LittleGrey8
Summary: Kate, Claire, and Sawyer begin to navigate their lives away from the island. Surprises and secrets abound as the friends try to move on. These three are the main characters, but others (living and dead) will make appearances.
1. Chapter 1

Kate looked out the window. They were getting further and further away from the island. Soon she wouldn't be able to see it at all. She knew she should feel excited to be leaving the island, but all she could think about was Jack. She knew he was dying, if not already dead. Kate no longer felt like she was leaving the island, she felt like she was leaving him. She would never see him again. She raised a hand to the cold glass and began to sob. Claire squeezed her hand and shot her a reassuring smile. Kate smiled back through her tears. She knew she couldn't think about him, at least not yet. He had been brave and sacrificed himself for them. She knew he wouldn't want her to spend her time crying over him. She wiped her tears away and ran a hand over her shoulder where Jack had stitched her up, like she had done for him three years ago.

"Kate?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," Kate responded, her voice was still thick with tears.

"Could you maybe tell me about Aaron?"

"Of course," Kate responded with a smile. "He is the sweetest little boy you've ever met and he gives the best hugs in the entire world. But he's also very sneaky. The little goober knows how to work those big blue eyes and that Shepherd charm."

Claire smiled. She was glad that her son had had a relationship with his uncle in his early years.

"He's smart too. We used to read to him every night, and he can read some of the words himself. He can count to twenty, even though he tells people he can count to a hundred. His favorite color's blue, such a typical boy, I know. His favorite stuffed animal is a stuffed killer whale. And he watches way too much TV."

"He sounds wonderful," Claire responded with a smile.

"He is," Kate said softly.

"Kate, I just want to be clear. I want you to be a part of Aaron's life. You raised him for three years and I can never repay you for that. Besides, all of us are a strange kind of family now. We have to stick together."

"Live together, die alone," Kate said softly, echoing the words Jack had spoken years ago.

Claire grinned as Lapidus's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"This is your captain speaking. We have cleared the island and should be making our descent into LAX in about four hours. I should be able to get in touch with ground control to get clearance to land. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the flight." They could all hear the triumph in his voice.

Kate stood, knowing what they had to do. As she began to take charge, she almost felt as though Jack was with her.

"We have to lie." She said.

"What the hell are you talking about Freckles?" James asked, standing up.

"We lied the first time we got rescued. The 'Oceanic Six' were supposed to be the only ones who survived, the remains of a plane was found and they thought it was ours. We went along with it to protect all of you. Now three of us are dead, and we'll probably never see Hurley again."

"So what do we do?" Miles asked.

"We say that it was a coincidence that all of the six, except Aaron, of course, were on the same flight. This flight crashed on the island and only a few of us survived, but they eventually all died except Lapidus and I. We eventually came across you and Sawyer. You guys had been living on the island since the crash. We somehow got separated. You formed a camp and were living with Miles, who got there with a science team, all of your other team members died. And Richard…" Kate paused, looking at the man.

"Never existed," Richard said slowly.

"Come on man, there has to be a way." Miles responded.

"How are we supposed to explain that I'm nearly 200 years old? We have to protect the island. No immortality, no smoke monsters, we can't mention any of that. When we get to LA, I'll sneak away. I never existed and it has to stay that way." Richard said definitively.

The others nodded in understanding and sat back into their seats. No one could ever know what really happened on that island. No one could ever begin to imagine what happened to them.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire ran a hand through her matted hair. They would be in Los Angeles soon and all of her friends had fallen asleep. Kate's hand was still wrapped around hers. Though Claire didn't want to admit it, she was terrified to leave the island. Over the past three years it had become her home, she had become so used to being "Crazy Jungle Hair Claire" that she was worried she wouldn't know how to act normally again. She was scared that Aaron would be afraid and even more afraid that Thomas would try to sue for custody of Aaron once the secret got out that he was her son, not Kate's. Though he hadn't wanted him, things would likely change when he learned of the large settlement she would receive from Oceanic.

Kate jolted awake as the intercom began to crackle. "I've been able to get in touch with the air traffic controllers at LAX and we have been cleared to land. We should begin our descent in about ten minutes."

Claire squeezed Kate's hand and the brunette stood up again. "We all have our stories straight?" She asked. The other survivors nodded.

"What about the munchkin?" James asked.

A worried look came across Claire's face as she glanced at Kate.

"We can say that we found him, that your camp got attacked by a wild animal and in the chaos Aaron got left behind. We saw your camp destroyed and we thought that Aaron was the only survivor so we took him in and I raised him. We said he was mine so that he wouldn't have to learn the gruesome truth."

The other survivors nodded in agreement. Kate walked over and slid into a seat next to James.

She lowered her voice and spoke, "I don't know what's going to happen, legal-wise. I had a trial once we got back. You can't exactly hide when you're front page news."

"But unlike you, Freckles, I wasn't exactly America's Most Wanted." James pointed out with a chuckles.

"James," Kate said pointedly.

"No more conning, I swear," he said, sticking out his hand to shake. "And I think you should start calling me Sawyer again." He said with a small smirk.

"Deal, Sawyer," Kate shook his hand again and returned to her seat. She got the feeling that being called James reminded him of Juliet and it had finally been too much for him. A few seconds after Kate sat back down the plane began to descend. Everyone in the plane grew tense, the last time any of them had been close to land in any type of major transportation: ship, plane, or helicopter.

Kate clutched Claire's hand and shot her a reassuring smile. She looked around the plane. All of the other passengers were gripping their seats, bracing for impact. The plane was dead silent as they hit pavement, bumping a little bit and then coming to a stop. They all sat in silence for a second, staring out their windows. They had made it.

Sawyer let out a whoop and all of the survivors started to cheer. Richard had begun to cry. While three years had seemed like forever to them, it paled in comparison to Richard's 200 years.

Frank emerged from the cockpit, a triumphant grin on his face. His passengers stood and gave him a standing ovation. Frank hammed it up, taking a dramatic bow and then walking over to open the door.

They all walked over. Sawyer wrapped his arms around Claire and Kate's waists.

"You ready, Blondie, Freckles?" Sawyer asked the two women.

They both nodded eagerly, walking over to door, following Frank, Richard, and Myles. As they neared the doors, seeing the mass of people that waited for them, Claire suddenly froze.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, stopping in her tracks.

"Maybe this was a mistake. I look like I'm insane. Aaron's probably going to be scared of me."

"Go ahead," Kate whispered to Sawyer before turning to Claire.

"I can't imagine what you've been through in the past three years, but you have to come back for Aaron. He needs his mother, we both know that. This is what everyone we love died for, so that we could have this chance. Jack… And Charlie..."

At the mention of Charlie's name Claire looked up. "Okay," She nodded. Kate grabbed her hand and the two exited the airplane into the long terminal. Richard had slipped away, but the others were waiting for them. They all began to walk together, as they exited the terminal they were swarmed by a mob of reporters. Airport security kept them at bay long enough for them to be ushered away by representatives from Oceanic and Ajira.


	3. Chapter 3

After endless hours of talking to the airline representatives, a press conference was scheduled for the next week. The Oceanic representatives said that they would be getting Sawyer and Claire their share of the settlement money by the next week.

Now the three Oceanic survivors were in a town car, offered by the airlines in the hopes that they would keep their mouths shut until the press conference, on their way to Kate's house, where Aaron and Claire's mother were waiting. Frank and Miles had gone to meet Richard at a hotel, where the three of them would be staying.

Claire looked out the window of the car, fiddling with her fingers. Sawyer sat in the middle, listening intently to the radio, which was playing an unfamiliar pop song. Kate looked out the window, counting the houses until they got to hers. She could see her neighbors through the tinted glass.

Butterflies rose in her stomach as they came to a stop in front of her house. "We're here," She said, with a smile, looking at the toys scattered throughout the front yard. She noticed a car in the driveway, it meant Claire's mother was home. Her's was in the garage. She had taken a cab to the airport. She let Claire knock on the door.

The door opened to reveal Carole Littleton.

"Mom?" Claire said softly, embracing her mother for the first time in years.

"I'm so sorry," She whispered into her mother's ear. "I love you."

"I love you, so, so, much," Her mother responded hugging her.

"Thank you," Carole said, hugging Kate.

"Mom, this is James Ford," Claire said, introducing her mom to Sawyer.

"You can call me Sawyer," he said, extending a hand. Carole pulled him into a hug.

"Mommy!" A yell broke out as Aaron ran to Kate. She scooped him up. "Hey, Handsome. I missed you." She said, pulling him close.

"Aaron, baby, there's someone I want you to meet." She turned to Claire, Aaron's arms were still wrapped around her neck. She put him down and bent down to his eye level. "Remember how I told you about your grandma,"

"Yeah," Aaron said, swaying back and forth.

"Well, your grandma is Claire's mommy. And Claire is your real mommy."

Aaron stuck his lip out in a confused pout. "I just took care of you until your mommy was ready to come home." Kate tried to explain.

"Can I still call you Mommy?" Aaron asked softly.

"Of course, baby," Kate said squeezing Aaron's shoulders.

Aaron walked over to Claire, hugging her. Claire picked him up, hugging the small boy to her chest.

"I love you, sweetheart," Claire whispered holding him close.

"I love you, too, Mama." He said with a grin kissing Claire's dirty cheek.

"Can I go play now?" He asked eagerly.

Kate chuckled, same one track mind. .

"Of course, but there's someone else I want you to meet first. This is Sawyer, he knew you when you were just a baby."

Aaron walked over to Sawyer, holding out his hand. Sawyer got down to the young boy's level.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, kid," Sawyer said with a chuckle, shaking his hand.

Aaron waved goodbye and began to walk towards the living room to play. He stopped in his tracks and ran back.

"What's wrong, baby?" Kate asked.

"Where's Jack?" Aaron asked eagerly.

Claire and Kate exchanged sad glances and they walked over to the couch with Aaron.

"Jack's gone, baby." Kate said, tears beginning to form. "He's never coming back, but I want you to know that he loved you very much. He was very brave, and made sure that your Mama and I could come back to you." Aaron nodded, before jumping off the couch and running up the stairs, at least running as fast as his short legs could take him.

"Should we… go after him?" Claire asked nervously.

"No, he just needs some time," Kate said softly.

"Well…" Carole said, breaking the silence, "How about I go pick up some stuff for dinner and you three get cleaned up?"

"Sounds good," Kate responded. Carole walked to the front door, keys in hand.

"Mom!" Claire exclaimed, jumping up and following her mom to the door. "Be careful, she said, giving her mom a hug.

Carole kissed her daughter on the forehead and then walked out the door.

Claire walked back into the living room, where Kate and Sawyer were sitting silently.

"So…." Kate said, awkwardly breaking the silence. "Who's in the mood for a shower?"

Sawyer grinned, his hand shooting in the air.

"A shower sounds great, but we might need some heavy duty conditioner." Claire said, running a hand over her matted hair.

Kate grinned and stood up, ushering her friends upstairs. She showed each of them the guest bedroom they would be showering in, handed them each a towel and said that she would leave fresh clothes on the bed. She told them that they could go shopping in the morning. She walked to her room to find clothes for them. Claire's were easy; a pair of Kate's favorite sweat pants and a comfy T-shirt. Sawyer's were more difficult. She walked over to the dresser that still held Jack's old things. She found the two things that held the least sentimental value, a T-shirt from a hospital fundraiser, one he had never even worn and a pair of sweatpants that Jack had only worn once or twice. She walked to the guest bedrooms and placed the clothes on the beds.

She walked back into her own room, grabbing a plush towel and stepping into the bathroom. She turned the shower on and after removing her grimy clothes, stepped in. The hot water hit her, and she let it run down her body, watching it drip from her fingertips to the tile floor. She reached over to grab some shampoo and stopped when she saw Jack's staring back at her. She hadn't removed it from the shower after Jack had left.

She quickly grabbed her own shampoo, aggressively lathering her hair. She began to cry, really cry for the first time since Jack's death. She crumpled against the cool wall, her thin body wracked with sobs. Jack was gone, he was never coming back. Her friends were dead. She sobbed until the tears were gone. Then she counted to five and stood up.

Freshly showered and dressed, she walked to Sawyer's room. She knocked, and when he didn't answer she opened the door. "Hey, I'm just her to pick up your dirt…" Kate said stopping in her tracks when she found herself staring at a very wet and very naked Sawyer.

"Relax, Freckles. It ain't nothing you haven't seen before." Sawyer said with a chuckle, wrapping his towel around his waist.

Kate rolled her eyes, "You wanna toss your island clothes or wash em?"

Sawyer shrugged, "Toss em." Kate nodded and turned to leave.

"Freckles," Kate turned around as Sawyer spoke, "I am really sorry about the Doc."

"Me too," Kate responded softly and then left.

She walked to Claire's room. "Come in!" Claire shouted when Kate knocked.

"You know I forgot what actually being clean feels like," Claire said with a laugh.

"I bet," Kate laughed. "Do you wanna toss or wash your island clothes?"

"Toss! They're pretty much rags by now anyway," Claire giggled.

Kate picked up Claire's dirty clothes. She heard a clunk and bent down.

There was a water stained piece of paper with Sharpie on it wrapped around something metal and heavy. Kate carefully unwrapped it and gasped.

"What's wrong?" Claire asked curiously, walking over. She saw the object in Kate's hand and took it, her finger's shaking.

"Charlie's ring," She whispered breathlessly, tears coming to her eyes.


End file.
